


50 Ways I Say "I Love You"

by Infiniteleft



Series: Comforts [2]
Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Suggestive Themes, Unbeta'd and Unedited, mentions of medical procedures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:22:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24284308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infiniteleft/pseuds/Infiniteleft
Summary: A collection of Kaimei shorts.
Relationships: Kaito/Meiko (Vocaloid)
Series: Comforts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934644
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	1. Shaken

"You're still up?" Meiko squinted. Even though the living room had only one lamp lit, the light it cast burned her tired eyes. Standing by the doorway, she hit her husband with an exasperated stare. Kaito turned away from his laptop, a soft shuffle of papers falling to the floor following his movement. She stepped closer, rubbing her palm into her eye.

He shut his laptop to set it on the coffee table, leaning forward yo pick up the scattered papers before she could read them. "I'm sorry, " he offered first, "I lost track of time. I was just looking something up, and, well, next thing I know it's--" Kaito broke off to read the clock, but said nothing afterwards. Meiko surpressed a sigh. She knew what it said.

"Why are you doing research at three forty in the morning?" She knew the answer to that, too, but better to hear it admit it out loud. "I've got one guess and I know it's right, so out with it."

Silence. Once, twice, her husband tried to speak, but nothing came out. Meiko knew what was bothering him, of course she did, but… seeing him shut down on her would never fail to set her on edge. He was that worried?

She sat down, cautiously raising a hand to his shoulder, waiting for a response. When none came, she slid an arm across his shoulders. They were shaking-- time to set humor aside. "Come on, what's wrong?"

"I-- it's--" He swallowed hard, avoiding her eyes. "It feels so real and not at the same time." He admitted, swiping his palms across his thighs. Meiko slipped her free hand underneath, wrapping her fingers around his. The touch served as an anchor he gripped tightly, leaning into her side. "What if it goes wrong?"

"It won't." She said firmly. Then she saw his expression and reconsidered. "But, if it does, I'm sure they'll catch on quickly and fix it. They're experienced surgeons, Kaito."

He shivered, but nodded nonetheless.

"You'll be fine. You'll go in tomorrow, and wake up tomorrow, too. And then you can go home next week. Maybe not even that long," she continued. Her hand rubbed circles on his back. "But you need sleep. I know you're restless, but you have to at least try. Please?"

Slowly, the shaking came to a halt. After a couple breaths, he nodded with eyes closed. Rising, Meiko kept a hand on his back as she reached for the lamp switch. With a soft click, they descended into darkness.


	2. Moonlight Blanket

With a start, he woke to moonlight dripping through the curtains. Soft snores came from behind him, and Kaito closed his eyes again with a sigh. Pressing the back of his hand to his forehead, he struggled to make sense of what had woken him. A bad dream, maybe? It seemed so far away now, which was a small comfort to his racing heart.

Dropping his hand back down, he contented himself to lay there and listen to Meiko's snoring. For once, it wasn't grating like a chainsaw, but a soft noise. Like a baby's. ...did babies snore? Admittedly, he couldn't see why not, but… he'd never heard anyone ever mention babies snoring.

Then again, he only knew a handful of people whom have had children, so maybe that was just him.

Sitting up, he intended on reaching for his phone when something drew him to look over his shoulder. An interruption in her breathing, perhaps? No, no, wait, interruptions in breathing were bad. Either way, he glanced at Meiko, still fast asleep at his side. And almost falling off the bed, sheets long since rolled out from under.

Kaito froze, the only movement he could manage being a head tilt. After a moment, he sighed. How was she not cold? Or awake, with her arm and head hanging off the edge of the bed? Carefully, he swung his legs over on to the floor, pushing up and creeping around to both study her, but also push her back onto the bed. Unsurprisingly, she didn't stir. At all. Not even a groan.

No, she just continued snoring. Hair stuck to the side of her face as her head lolled back onto the pillow, and Kaito sighed fondly. With a light touch, he brushed it away from her cheeks -- where it'd inevitably fall into her eyes and nose and wake her up -- to behind her ear.

"The only thing that'd wake you up is yourself, huh?" He asked with a quirk of his lips, replacing the blanket over her. The only response was a grunt and more snoring. How typical, but he loved it anyway.

He watched her for a moment more, before going to lay back down himself, satisfied with knowing she wouldn't need to go to the ER in the morning because she cracked her head open on the end table. And she wouldn't be complaining about cold feet.

That was all he ever really needed.


	3. On The Road

In hindsight, Meiko probably should have planned this out better. Maybe she should've tried convincing Luka or Gakupo to come with her, make a road trip of it. As it was, though, she sat alone in the dingy car she rented. Leaning against her fist, she sighed. The radio had faded into background noise some countless miles ago. She couldn't name the songs playing now, but she was sure it was something Miku would've liked. Or at the very least, been able to recognize.

As it was, though, the girl was off with her grandparents in Singapore for the month, which might've been the reason Meiko decided to give in to impulse and go visit her husband, who had also gone to see his own grandparents. Err, grandparent and great grandparents.

Thirty years later, she still couldn't wrap her head around how his family dynamics worked.

It was what it was, though, and she couldn't deny that they cared for eachother. Which was also why she was on the road today -- when his grandmother had broken her ribs last week, Kaito had been quick to drop everything on his plate. And with good reason, granted -- the years hadn't been kind to his mother, and the woman wouldn't have been able to care for all three of them at once.

So of course he had gone in her stead. Knowing him, he would've gotten busy the moment he got there, which led her to the purpose of visiting… even if it took her three hours to drive there.

Why oh why did they move so far away, again?

Too late for regrets now, especially not since traffic started moving again. Straightening up in her seat, she reassured herself she'd be there soon enough. Two hours had already gone by, so it wasn't that much longer. At least, when compared to the time she'd already spent.

She'd be there soon enough to see what nonsense Kaito had gotten himself into, and that would be enough to keep herself going. Even if this moron in front of her should never have been let onto the road.


	4. To The Heart of It

The scraping noises produced by the spatula against the pot may have been soft to begin with, but they definitely were drowned out by the swearing from the other room. With a wince, Kaito easily dropped in on the one-sided conversation Meiko was having with her laptop.

It was one thing for her to have lost her phone and debit card in one fell swoop, it was another for her to come back home and find out that once again, she needed to hunt down another bass player for her band. He didn't have the heart to tell her that those facts probably weren't connected, unless Lily was capable of casting curses -- Meiko hadn't meet any of them in over a week.

Lest he become the new target of her ire, he let her rage at inanimate objects about her rotten luck.

Sighing, he shut the fridge, having set down the dessert platter. Fingers crossed she still enjoyed cherries, and fingers crossed she never found out how much the cherries were. He wasn't sure if she'd laugh it off or find it something else to focus on. Reaching for the platter, he hefted it up onto his arm and balanced it carefully, headed toward the bedroom where silence had finally fallen.

Meiko was nothing more than a heap under the blankets that let out a lone grumble as Kaito opened the door. Treading warily across the floor, he used his free hand to hoist up the blanket a little. Before she could snap at him, he solemnly told her "I have cheesecake, wine, and a listening ear."

Her frown wavered. Sitting up, she shoved the covers off of her. He'd take it as the invitation she wouldn't ever voice and sat down. Her hair stuck up and out in odd directions, so slowly Kaito reached out to smooth a hand over the disturbed locks, setting them right. Victory. That cut down the reminder of the barriers and Meiko broke into a weak, shivering grin. Leaning forward, she buried her face into his shoulder, albeit at an awkward angle… she mumbled into the fabric and flesh.

He patted the back of her head. "I know you said something sweet, but the muttering is really unromantic, Mei-chan."

Further grumbling.

"Meiko…" A little exasperation seeped into his voice. It was one thing to hide from the world in eachother's shoulders, but what was the point of talking when you know you couldn't be understood? Unfortunately, that was one thing they sometimes had issues with; being that it was a bad habit Meiko had, and one of Kaito's worst pet peeves.

A moment passed as she realized he couldn't get even the jist of it, so she dug her face out from where she'd hidden it, instead digging her chin into the bone. "Sorry. Said I love you, you incomprehensible moron."

"Thank you. So, you want to talk about it?"

"Absolutely not." After a momentary stare of disbelief, she relented. "...fine, that was a lie. But I want the cheesecake first."

Smoothing a hand over the periwinkle sheets -- and they  _ were _ periwinkle,  _ Luka _ \-- he encouraged her to loosen her grip for a moment, shifting into a more comfortable position against the headboard. "Alright, alright. Then you'll talk."

"Then I'll talk."


	5. Promises, Promises

She didn't want to do this.

At this hour, anyone with a share of self respect would be in bed by now. By all accounts, she would've been there herself had it not been for Luka's abysmal scheduling abilities. Meiko cursed her friend's name as she shut off the tap. And sighed. Even though she'd slept in, earlier, exhaustion still felt ripe in a body used to a daily rhythm. A rhythm that has been thwarted.

No time for remorse, however, with a-ticking. So with heavy steps, she made her way out from the bathroom, nudging her dirty laundry out of the way -- she'd pick it up later. Preferably tomorrow afternoon.

The light cut through her darkened bedroom before Meiko snapped it off, hoping it wouldn't rouse her husband. Sleep was often hard-won on his end and never lasted long, waking in the night for any number of reasons. A breath passed, then two. Quiet was all that greeted her, so she slipped from the doorway to the chair she'd draped her costume over. The fabric might've been louder than her footsteps.

Alright, maybe she needed to curse herself for not thinking this through. The smart thing to have done would've been to change in the bathroom, but apparently Kaito's absentmindedness rubbed off on her. She cringed as she heard him startle; she'd dropped her belt and it hit the chair leg. After voicing a very confused "huh?" he rolled over, shaking sleep from himself. It didn't take long for him to return to enough coherency to zero in on her. Even though he'd just woken, he still smiled at her. "Hi."

She raised a hand and waved with her fingers.

Married for eight years and that was all she could manage?! Her father would never let her live it down. Then again, there was a lot of things he wouldn't let her live down, so maybe it was a good thing she didn't care anymore. Still, the heat from her embarrassment crept up her neck. Very suave, Meiko.

At least she had a molecule of comfort in knowing Kaito wasn't any more smooth than she was. Plus, he was half awake, to boot, so maybe he wouldn't remember this later. Lost in her musings and shame, she almost missed what he'd said.

"Whatime izzit?" He sniffled and turned towards the clock, squinting at it in the dark. ...most definitely not awake, then, considering it was impossible to read the hands without the light.

Meiko picked up her belt and refastened it to her waist. "Thirty minutes 'til eleven," she responded sheepishly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

"No, 'is fine." He stifled a yawn, burrowing back into the pillows. "You've got to… mmmph. Yeah. It's fine. You'll be back?" Slinging her coat over her shoulder, she nodded.

"Show's only an hour, so I'll be back around one."

"No drinking?"

"Promise."

"Nnn. I'm holding you to that, okay?" Kaito looked up as she approached and stuck out his arms. With a fond, ever exaggerated suffering sigh, Meiko ducked into his embrace. It was warm. So, so warm. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead against his, savoring the faint scent of vanilla and cinnamon left in his hair.

"Always. I'm one of my word, you know," she whispered. "Always."

The arms around her tightened, then relaxed. "Always, also known as forever." His exhausted slurring rendered that near incomprehensible, but years of well worn experience made the sentiment clear. Or, well, as clear as it was going to get.

"Don't start listing synonyms to me, moron. You're too tired for that." She pulled away with a chuckle, patting his shoulder. Upon seeing the horrified pout on her husband's face, Meiko couldn't help breaking into further laughter. Honestly, who could blame her, with half his face still mushed into the pillow?

Kaito folded his arms and glared. At least, she thought he was trying to glare. Truthfully, he never pulled it off -- maybe it was because she'd known him since they were young, but he never really put heart into it. He was too soft for any real malice to show.

Which was why she felt kind of bad for laughing at him now. "Okay, okay, sorry." She leaned back in. "Didn't mean to make fun of you."

"Yes you did."

"Did not." She pecked his cheek.

A huff tickled her ear. Progress was being made on the grudge, so she pressed her mouth against the corner of his again -- and promptly startled as arms wrapped back around her, soft, gentle warmth biting away the gloss she'd applied.  _ Why you little… Clever. _ She relented, grinning only momentarily before parting her lips in invitation.

The kiss didn't last as long as she wished it would, ending after a moment. But when she pulled away, contentment was there all the same. And the glee on her husband's face was worth it, maybe. Meiko smirked, dropping her palm on top of his face to wipe away the fruity sheen from his skin.

"You're going to be late if you don't get going." He told her after she moved her hand. "... you're also going to need to fix your lipstick."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Go back to sleep, you sneak." She rolled her eyes, grabbing her bag from off the floor. Turning away, Meiko made it halfway across the room before she heard him softly calling after her.

"I love you."

Pausing, fuzzy feelings crept up her back. She sighed. Did she have to…. Yes, yes she did. Besides, Miku was asleep. Probably. Hopefully. Okay, fine, she was a teenager. Of course she was awake at this hour. Her only saving grace was that the girl wouldn't be listening in. Pursing her lips, she knew he'd wait as long as it took to hear her say it, with no complaint, no worries. It was the least she could do.

"Night. I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Saturdays and Sundays might end up being the day I'm going to try and aim on updating on. We'll see.


	6. After Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: anesthesia, vague aftermath of dental procedures.
> 
> So, let's just say that this is partly based off of personal experiences, lmao. Omitted is the nasty, nasty parts of the aftermath of having a tooth pulled. Kaito's tired melodrama is here to spare you all from that.

It was cold, and the days were long. Longer still were the nights spent waiting and watching with a lonely heart, hoping for any sign of change. Burrowed deep in blankets of steel, it was the only comfort left. There would be no tomorrow. Only today and the rest of forever.

The floorboards creak in a borderline rhythm. Do they mimic song? Could there be music without structure and life? Solitude meant nothing in the grand scheme of the world, uncaring of each and everyone every worm ground beneath its heel. It was so cold.

A door bangs shut off in the distance, unreachable but real. The hollow feeling sits heavy in his chest as heavy footsteps clamor through the hall. Shuddering alive, the darkness fades with the last dregs of energy he had left.

Brown eyes of a bear appear from the gloom, twinkling with mercy. A willowy frame follows them from the shadows, ignoring how she was eager to shed some light into the bastion they called home. The guardian long forgotten gave him a long stare, hiding away from his judgement in kindness's cover.

"Feeling any better?" That voice, it was so familiar….

"Nuh." Words failed him, a traitorous tongue gone wayward with grief. His throat dry, a cough spasmed out, leaving him wishing he could breathe again.

Meiko turned to Luka with a frown.

"Well, so you know how he really doesn't take to anesthesia too well and wakes up too early?"

"Oh, no. They--"

"Hit him way harder than they usually do? Yes. Yes they did. I had to confiscate his ring, by the way; it's on the dresser." Luka swept the curtains of pink back from her face. "Every time he looked at it he cried. Like. Bawling uncontrollably cried."

"Yuh… ifsh….nnnnnnnn… cuzzahyuh." Fighting back the poison running rampant through his veins, he mustered up the strength to stare her in the eyes, willing her to be brave enough to face him.

There was a long silence after sympathetic hands shoved him back into the warm trappings he'd escaped from. Evil spoke in wicked ways, beguiling the grace before them both. "I really don't know what that's about, but if it helps, he's been like this the whole time. Once he stopped crying every time he realized I was there, anyway."

Meiko shook her head. "You're kidding… alright, that figures. Thanks, Luka. See you Friday?"

"Yep. I'll leave you to, uch," a hand was waved towards him, and he wondered if this was the end. "This mess. Remind him to call me once he's got this out of his system?"

"Will do. Kaito, stop that--" Another hand, this time connected to someone who wasn't… sometimes mean. Pillows pressed into his back, beckoning him back to the call of eternity.

He knew that face. He obeyed.

* * *

Before he knew it, the forces dragging him under finally relented their grip, easing him back to existence. '6:14' blinked annoyingly in front of his eyes, red and loud and really, really obnoxious. His mouth felt so dry, like cotton… a probing touch with his tongue reminded him that _was_ cotton pressed between his teeth. Everything throbbed. It wasn't unusual for it to be so, but the ache in his face was definitely new… ah, right.

A warm hand patted his shoulder gently. "Hey. Hey. Honey? You with me? Kaito?" The face before him cleared into focus. Meiko's smile was thin and worried. Answering her with a hum, he burrowed into the pillow. "How're you feeling?"

Words failed him. Slowly sighing, hoping it would bring wakefulness back to him, he simply raised a hand and gave her an 'okay' sign. If he tried, he could maybe pull himself together enough to sit up. Maybe. But the thought alone made his head swim, so… bed rest it was, then.

The patterns traced on his arms changed, Meiko's hands rubbing circles over his skin. "Yeah?" Their bed creaked as she sat down, the side dipping from side to side as she moved to lay at his back.

Kaito considered that, then hoisted himself up enough to roll in place, burying his face into her shoulder. It might not have been the softest place to rest right now, but it was the best. Fingers worked through his hair, making the dizziness worth it. "Yeah. Mm… Tired, though. Hurts."

"I can imagine." He heard the smack of her lips, and could only picture what her expression could've been. Knowing her, it was barely disguised sympathy. "...need to change out the gauze soon."

"Nnnn."

"Alright, fine. It can wait for a couple minutes. _Just_ a couple."


	7. Kiss It Better

"I don't want to say it, but this is your fault."

Somehow, this wasn't how she envisioned ever regretting a 'morning after' kind of day. Meiko groaned and threw an arm over her eyes. Hauling herself away from the last dregs of sleep, she oriented herself on her husband's voice. The sun was up. Unfortunately. Which meant whatever pleasant dreams she'd been having were now out of reach. It wasn't often Kaito voiced a complaint towards her, but when he did… "And why's that?"

"You're the one who started it last night." He reminded her, remarkably grave. "And finished it. And the one who did this."

What did she do? She couldn't remember. Daring to give in, Meiko slid her arm over her head, propping herself up. What was he- Nevermind, she saw very clearly what he was talking about now. Even with the furrowed brows he held, something about him standing there with one of his coats on and the, ah, _evidence_ still evident on his jaw…. "Oh. Whoops. My bad. Sorry."

Kaito crossed his arms. "No, you're not." His lips pressed into a small line, and she almost felt bad for laughing. Almost. _Come on._ It was ridiculous. "Miku is going to die the minute she sees these, Meik--!"

He didn't get to finish that thought. 'Meik' yanked him down into her arms, tucking his head into her shoulder as she sprinkled kisses on his neck; landing right over the bruises there. "I kees it bedder!" She promised with a nasal voice, pressing her cheek to his hair. A soft puff from the pillow beside her signaled the near-miss his hand made, scrambling for balance. His exclamation was muffled, but she kind of thought it sounded like her name. But very irritated.

Meiko decided to have mercy. "...plus, I have some red concealer under the cabinet you can borrow." She pulled back, rubbing a finger on the purple-y patches, allowing him to stand back up. With one last long look at her, and a grumbled bit of gratitude, he slipped away.

Wiggling back under the covers for a bit more sleep, she called after him, lacing a strange sweetness into her tone. Kind of like aspartame. "I love you!"

"Bite me," came back from the bathroom. She grinned.

"I already did."


	8. Reflections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So regular updates may or may not have been an overestimation of my abilities, but an update is here nonetheless.

"What are you doing?"

Meiko's half-aware voice greeted him as he set his things down on the bed. He only hummed in response. Fishing through his bag, there was a soft crinkle as he fished out an even tinier bag. This was it, right...? A glance. Right. He smiled and turned to where his wife was sitting at her desk, having lost interest in whatever he was in fact, doing. Her chestnut hair was mussed where it sat under her headphones, long since forgotten about and left to lie freely. A beer can sat open next to her keyboard. Hm. So she wouldn't be too out of it.

He approached her carefully, as to not startle her, and rested his chin on her head. Soft as ever. A hand wandered up to pat his cheek, and he leaned into it, mumbling a greeting. "Can I see your phone for a second?"

"Yeah, sure." She handed it over curiously. Finally, she looked away from her blank word document. "What for?"

Kaito straightened up, peering at the case she had. Tilting it this way and that, he pursed his lips when he couldn't find the accursed hole he was looking for-- ah! There it was. In an odd place, but it was there all the same. He handed it back unceremoniously. "Do you remember the maple tree they had on campus? The college one."

"The ones they cut down?" She asked, leaning back and swivelling around. Confusion sat clear on her face, with the right corner of her lips drawn down a notch.

His heart sank. "They cut them down? When? You never told me that happened."

"About, ah, I don't know, a bit over a year after you dropped out? Got struck by lightning, and, well, caught on fire, apparently. It's a shame, it was really pretty. And a good place to wait for you to get done with whatever it was you were doing before lunch." Meiko shrugged, turning a palm up. Then she paused, squinting at him with further confusion, and a little more concern. "What's with the face?"

"Nothing, nothing." Kaito dismissed his momentary grief, shaking his head. It didn't matter in the long run, as pleasant as the memories of the old boughs were. "But, uh, I, ah-- oh, here." Deprived of words, he simply held the small thing out to her to take, which she did.

Meiko's brows furrowed as she stared as the mysterious little paper bag. Obviously, she was wondering what relevance this miniscule thing could hold to both her phone and her college days. Her dubious glance towards him suggested she was trying to figure out whether the two were even connected at all or just simply a side thought. Kaito pursed his lips, rocking back on his feet under the weight of her scrutiny.

"...you can open it, Mei-chan. It's- it's for you, after all, you know?"

She sighed before carefully pulling the paper apart, upending it into her palm. Picking it up with her thumb and forefinger, she held it up to the light and stilled, turning her gift this way and that. Red light speckled her skin where it shone through the small charm, only beaten out by the radiance of the silvery flecks of holographic dust embedded within the resin. Her lips parted, entranced, and he fell in love with her all over again. This. It was moments like this that he knew she'd remember.

"I was helping Miku get a new laptop case earlier, since she ruined the last one, and, well, I saw this. And, you know, it reminded me of you. Since we would always meet there, you know?"

"You are such a sap." Meiko smiled -- and it was that kind of smile that spread everywhere on her face, where her eyes softened and crinkled at the edges, her nose wrinkling at the bridge. It was possibly the most adorable and wonderful thing Kaito had ever seen in his life. He could never get tired of that smile.

So of course he did the most graceful gesture of appreciation and reflection her knew; he pointed at her with finger guns and repeated, "sap?"

She kicked him in the shins for his effort, but her laughter was worth it.


	9. Boiled Roses

He'd cleared the counters only five minutes prior, and already there was a fine mess atop the laminate.

Well, a mess to him, anyway. Not that he had a problem with it. Not at all. No, the problem was that he didn't really know what any of it was. And that wasn't really a problem, per se, but it did make trying to understand what Meiko was trying to do nigh impossible. ...well, the process of it. Of course he knew what she was doing! She'd already told him about it before, several times, and over the years, he would know what she liked making.

"What's that?" You know what they say. Don't know something? Smart thing is to ask, isn't it? Besides, Meiko enjoyed having a change to gush about things, as reserved as she was about just near everything. Especially things she liked.

"Glycerin." To the untrained eye-- err, _ear_ \-- she sounded disinterested, bored. To her friends, she was ready to bite off heads at any moment. To her husband? To him, she sounded like she was incredibly pleased, but trying to hide her excitement. Of course. Y'know. When had Meiko ever made reading her emotions easy? Never, that's what. He tapped his fingers on the counter; she didn't even glance up at the sound, long accustomed to drowning such a noise out.

Unfortunately, however, that created far more questions for him. "Glycerin?" Kaito repeated, frowning. "Isn't that… flammable?"

"Ah, no? Think you're thinking of nitroglycerin, there." She straightened up with what was basically an all purpose crucible at this point in her hands. "Want me to try?"

"No thank you."

She grinned slyly. "Figures. You always were the boring one."

He scooched his chair forward. "Yes, and the boring person would really like avoiding having to call the fire department at, uh, seven thirty in the evening. You know. Just in case." Truly, he trusted Meiko’s judgement and her intelligence. However, he also trusted in her perchance for chaos, and the fact was, she may actually end up succeeding in setting the thing on fire. And, well, it was better to not tempt fate.

"Just in case." Meiko repeated as she dove back under the counter. "But no, don't worry about that so much. It's just a, um… carbohydrate, apparently. At least, that's what I managed to get from the article."

Kaito frowned. That… didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Again. Not that he was doubting her. It’s just… he remembered the last time she’d charged ahead without thinking, and the time before that, and the time before that. "What article?"

"The Wikipedia one." Her hand waved him off dismissively, disappearing quicker than it had reappeared. Still no head above the counter. What even was she looking for? He didn’t know, but wisely didn’t get in her way. She had a mission, and she’d probably eat him alive if he distracted her from it in a way that didn’t amuse her. Or something. It was Meiko; anything could go. Instead, he steepled his fingers to press them to his lips. A genuine mask of concern. And maybe just a slightest hint of amusement. Juuuuuust a smidge. A teensy weensy little bit. Not that he’d ever admit it. Not like she couldn’t tell, anyway. He took a breath in.

A beat. He let it out. “You… read a wikipedia article on a chemical you’re about to use?” Another beat. “That-- that came out wrong. I thought you would’ve already known what glycerin is if you’re using it in our kitchen…”

Finally, her head popped back up and she slammed a glass bowl onto the countertop -- not out of malice, though, not with that absolutely feral grin she was wearing. Terrifying. “I did. I just didn’t know if it was flammable or not. Figured you’d ask that question, so…” Ah. That explained it. Sort of. Enough for him, anyway. Correctly guessing he was still curious about everything else littering the counter, she pointed to another bottle with a strange label he couldn’t read from where he was sitting. "And that one's vitamin E."

"I-- vitamin E is a liquid?"

“It’s a protein. I think. Honestly, I’m just following what that paper tells me to do.” She peered over her fingers, resting her chin on the countertop. Upon spotting her quarry, she pointed. “S’over there. Say, do you wanna do me a favor? A little bit of a favor? Just a small, small one?” Her lip turned down in a pout, wobbling fretfully. At a glance, it seemed her widened eyes glistened with unshed tears. She was lying like a dog on a rug on a lazy afternoon, but her tilted head and pleading expression were irrefutable. There was no saying no to her like this. Especially not when he knew what Meiko was about to ask him.

With a twitch of his lips, he reached for the paper and watched her own face split into a grin. Hm. Whatever she was making might be too much of a science for him to understand, but if reading off these weird instructions helped her...


	10. Hush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Solid, continuing timeline? What's that? Also, this definitely is getting absorbed into 'Home Comforts' verse so maybe this will all make sense someday.

It wasn’t anything special that made her realize for the umpteenth time she didn’t appreciate her fiance enough. Honestly. It was ridiculous. But sitting next to him on their worn-down couch with a steaming bowl of… well. She didn’t exactly know what it was in specific outside of ‘what happens when Kaito is too tired to make anything else’. She’d asked when he’d handed it to her, and the only response she’d gotten was completely unintelligible. Completely. Smelled like beef, though, so maybe it was beef, uh, soup.

Broth. That’s what it was called. Broth. Broth and other things. She closed her eyes, savoring the warmth coddled in her lap and at her side. A tilt brought Meiko’s head to rest over top of Kaito’s, but already she knew he was dead asleep. She sighed with fond intent. Hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell him how it turned out… and judging from the neglected serving on the table in front of them, he didn’t have an opinion on it either.

That was okay. She’d save it for him later. Nothing wasted and all that. Without any further adieu, she tucked into her dinner with care not to jostle her future husband so much so that he’d wake up. That'd be a pretty terrible way to say 'thank you', after all.

Heat settled in her chest with the first spoonful, tingling through her arms and hands. It was only afterwards that she realized she’d spoken out loud, and she shot a nervous glance to the side, ducking her head. What luck; somehow, the unnecessarily vulgar exclamation she’d made about the home-y quality still hadn’t roused him. ...maybe she should nudge him off of her shoulder. But he was warm.... And honestly, settling him against the other end of the couch wouldn’t work. Neither would moving him into her lap. One would wake him, the other would possibly drop soup in his face.... Also waking him. Meiko sighed, resigning herself to her fate. Slow and steady. Maybe that was a hidden gift, she mused, a reminder to cherish the moment and also the soup? Maybe. Just maybe. She wasn’t one to think such things, though. That hidden sappiness would be their secret, huh?

A soft snore. She grinned. Yep. Their little secret.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt list can be found here: https://50-item-writing-prompts.tumblr.com/post/180600714495/50-wordless-ways-to-say-i-love-you-holding-their


End file.
